Delaware officials avoiding Coastal Zone showdown

DNREC Secretary David Small did not sanction the Delaware City refinery in 2015 after learning the company violated a state order prohibiting the shipment of crude oil by barge beyond a single New Jersey location on the Delaware River – even as lawyers at the state Department of Justice expressed concern about the refinery's actions.

Environmentalists say Small's unwillingness to fine the company demonstrates how Gov. Jack Markell's administration has helped Delaware's largest industrial employer disarm the Coastal Zone Act, the state's landmark environmental zoning law. Markell spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said the administration is confident DNREC handled the issue properly.

In 2013, Small's predecessor, Collin O'Mara, issued an order and accompanying permit allowing the refinery to begin shipping up to 45,000 barrels of oil daily by barge from its Delaware City refinery to the company's sister refinery in Paulsboro, N.J. Later that year, PBF Energy sent a barge loaded with crude about 7 miles past Paulsboro into the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery on the Schuylkill River.

The company continues to tell investors and state regulators it has the ability to ship crude well beyond Paulsboro – in spite of the order signed by O'Mara allowing shipments only to Paulsboro.

Read more: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/12/17/delaware-officials-avoiding-coastal-zone-showdown/94596972/